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Ottawa 0, New Jersey 1

Tonight saw the officiating crew of Kevin Pollock and Dean Morton (link; Pollock in particular has bad track record with the Sens this year, link), and as expected there were very few calls (three of which were of the phantom variety). Along with the zebras the Devils played their typical style making for a dull game. Despite the considerable obstacles the Sens did have opportunities in the game, but couldn’t capitalise.

First PeriodAlfredsson takes a penalty I didn’t see, but the Sens kill off the penalty (with one huge save from Bishop) and the game has good back and forth flow to start. Condra had a penalty shot, but couldn’t beat Hedberg 5-hole. The best chance at the end of the period was a 2-on-1 with Karlsson and Alfredsson, but the former didn’t get a clean shot and couldn’t be Hedberg.
Second Period
The Sens earned their first powerplay and looked good, despite not scoring. Konopka took a dumb penalty late in the period and the Devils capitalised to take the lead.
Third Period
The Sens enjoyed a good start to the period, but had to spend a couple of minutes on the PK after a phantom call on Bishop. The Sens regained the momentum and then faced another botched call for the PK (featuring a couple of great saves by Bishop). Crowd pressure finally got to the officials who called the second Devils penalty of the night, which was followed by a too many call by the linesman to give them a late, brief 5-on-3 and then 6-on-4, but they just couldn’t score.

Here’s a look at the goals:
1. New Jersey, Kovalchuk (pp)
One-timer top-shelf on Bishop

Top-performers:Ben Bishop – was strong in goal; a nice rebound from the Toronto game

Players Who Struggled: no one specifically struggled, although the Sens continue to struggle as a team handling teams which front their nets (the Tampa strategy of attacking from the goal line is not yet in evidence).